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Need Suggestions - Need a unique mechanic for card collecting game

2 replies [Last post]
Thu, 08/11/2016 - 17:58
rectorsquid
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Joined: 12/04/2015

I have a game design that is similar to Tokaido in that the players move around the board and collect cards and coins. This is my first game design so I decided to stay simple with the mechanics and also make it a board-based card collecting game, again, like Tokaido.

I am looking for suggestions on some new mechanic, maybe off the top of your heads or maybe a suggested game to look at, in order to add one more unique bit of play to my game.

Here's a brief description of the game so that you can see what I've already done:

* Players take turns and move one space per turn. Unless of course they pay to move a few more spaces or pay to stay in their space.
* Players can gain special powers during the game such as being able to move the space blocking token, moving an extra space for free, or peeking at two cards from the top of a deck and picking their choice instead of just taking the top card.
* One of the cards that players can collect scores well but costs a coin to buy when landing on that space - and it's mandatory if you land there.
* Players can get cards during the game that score points if they meet the goal on the card at the end so each player is trying to get more or less of certain things during the game.

I just can't seem to come up with something unique. Sure, paying to move more spaces has been interesting during play. And I've played around with "get to this one space to get a big score bonus and then no one else can get it" ideas. I just can't seem to come up with one more thing.

Player interaction consists of trying to get to the big bonus space before others, staying on a space that they want to they miss it, and having the special power to block a space of your choosing (that still need some refinement).

The game has coins and they actually score some points at the end. It is sometimes a tough choice to land on the pay-for-the-card spot or keep the coin. Some bonus cards say to have more than n number of coins to score x number of extra points for them.

So, any suggestions on what games might have a good mechanic for this game that I can modify or uses as a basis for my own variation? Any suggested mechanics that work well in this type of game that I just have not seen in my limited game-playing career?

Thanks.

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Thu, 08/11/2016 - 18:14
#1
questccg
questccg's picture
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Joined: 04/16/2011
One idea

Instead of making it a "rush" for one space perhaps if instead you did like in Tokaido where "more than one" player may be on a "big bonus" space? And then you share it...

The objective would then be "screw as many players over as possible"; so you can hoard all the of the "big bonus".

Update: Maybe add some asymmetry by having a rolling dice and you can move UP to the value of your dice. Progressing too quickly might be good for "big bonuses" but at the same time be bad if a player is collecting more of the lesser bonuses.

Update #2: Here's another idea I got from Rummoli. As people play "Take-that" cards they are forced to PAY into "the pot". At the end of each ROUND, the three (3) most advanced players collect and divide "the pot". So you don't want to be too SLOW - because you can be forgotten and not share in "the pot"... That's a balancing mechanic to offset *dumb* players from only moving one (1) space per turn.

Update #3: Combine BOTH ideas and then have: "The pot" which grows as player pay to use "Cards" from their hand (Perhaps with different values - according to the type of card). You can use different color winks (1, 2, 5, and 10). The first three (3) players to reach the "big bonus" space take "the pot". Last player is left eating dust.

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Fri, 08/12/2016 - 10:00
#2
mcobb83
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Joined: 06/07/2016
You're looking for an

You're looking for an additional mechanic, yes? And it seems to me that you are wanting something that enhanced player interaction too (at least from reading between the lines).

I have a game design that has not yet made it to the prototyping stage yet, but here's the gist- the players form a crew of pirates that sails around plundering etc. The issue was that the game mechanics forced it into a "draw card - roll dice" monotony that took away from the tone of the game and made it terribly boring.

The change I made was to include what we have come to call "antics" cards, which are cards that confer a bonus or reduce a penalty if the player perform's an action. An example is when you flip a card that indicates you've sighted a merchant ripe for plunder, if the pirate who flips the card does an impression of the pirate who sighted the vessel (something like "yar, there be a fat merchant off the starboard bow!") Then the crew gets a bonus to plundering the ship.

I don't know if your game has a theme, but adding forces interactions like that may be enough of a change or extra mechanic to make it work.

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